Project scientist Mark Clampin is reflected in the flight mirrors of the James Webb Space Telescope during testing at the Marshall Space Flight Center.
Read MoreMonth: September 2021
NASA’s record-breaking Lucy asteroid mission gearing up for October launch
NASA’s Lucy asteroid probe is set to begin its 12-year space odyssey next month. Lucy is scheduled to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Oct. 16. The liftoff will kick off a landmark mission that will see Lucy get up close and personal with eight different space rocks over the next dozen years. “We’re visiting more asteroids than any other spacecraft in history,” Lucy principal investigator Hal Levison, of the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colorado, said during…
Read More3D-printed rocket engines: The technology driving the private sector space race
This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Oliver Hitchens, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Surrey The volatile nature of space rocket engines means that many early prototypes end up embedded in dirt banks or decorating the tops of any trees that are unfortunate enough to neighbor testing sites. Unintended explosions are in fact so common that rocket scientists have come up with a euphemism for when it happens: rapid unscheduled disassembly, or RUD for short. Every…
Read MoreStuffed cow guards China’s space station ahead of Shenzhou 13 crew arrival next month
There are no astronauts currently aboard China’s new space station, but a stowaway on a recent cargo mission is now inhabiting the orbital outpost. Cameras aboard the Tianzhou 3 cargo spacecraft show a stuffed toy cow tucked away among supplies and equipment. Tianzhou 3 docked with the Tianhe module, the core module of China’s Tiangong space station, on Sept. 20 in preparation for the upcoming Shenzhou 13 crewed mission, which is currently scheduled to launch Oct. 16. The cow was likely chosen due to this year being the Year of…
Read MoreWhat Is a Quasar?
A quasar is a supermassive black hole gorging on gas in the heart of a distant galaxy. The post What Is a Quasar? appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
Read MoreNASA’s Lucy Mission Prepares for Launch to Trojan Asteroids
NASA has tested the functions of Lucy, the agency’s first spacecraft to study Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids, filled it with fuel, and is preparing to pack it into a capsule for launch Saturday, Oct. 16.
Read MoreNASA Transfers Air Traffic Management Tool Updates to FAA
As part of an effort aimed at making aviation more sustainable, NASA has transferred findings from an air traffic management project to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for nationwide implementation, the two agencies announced at a media briefing Tuesday.
Read MoreAddressing a Gap in Our Knowledge of Black Holes
Gravitational waves offer a test of whether supernovae can produce black holes between 55 and 120 times the Sun’s mass. The post Addressing a Gap in Our Knowledge of Black Holes appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
Read MoreLiftoff of Landsat 9
The engine on United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket fires to launch the Landsat 9 satellite on a mission to observe Earth on Monday, Sept. 27, 2021.
Read MoreAuroras expected tonight in New York, Washington and Wisconsin as solar storm barrels toward Earth
A moderate solar storm will slam into Earth today (Sept. 27), potentially causing auroras to dance in the sky at much lower latitudes than usual. As a result, the Northern Lights may be visible tonight in the northern United States, including New York, Wisconsin and Washington state, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). The storm — which is made up of charged solar particles oozing across space — may also cause satellite disruptions and some “power grid fluctuations” at high latitudes (particularly above the 55th parallel north,…
Read More